A multipurpose camp was held to reach the fruits of several Government-run welfare schemes to the slum dwellers. Organised by the district administration at the Gurudwara on Raipur Road near Sapera Basti on Monday, parliamentary secretary Umesh Sharma presided over it.
Chief development officer, Dehradun Alok Kumar Pandey said that the multipurpose camps were being organised at the instance of the DM Dehradun Ravinath Raman. “We would ensure that the fruits of several welfare schemes like pensions for the widows and the disabled reach those living in Sapera Basti and other slums,” he said. He also said that SHGs are being formed for the women of the slums so that they could be self- dependant by making paper envelopes , weaving , stitching and the like.
Sushil Mohan Dobhal, district development officer, said that 112 forms have been distributed for different schemes through this process and 61 applications have been submitted by the beneficiaries. He also said that out of 64 forms of old age pension, they had received 36 applications from the slum dwellers so far. Thirty forms of widow pension were distributed and 18 applications were received. For the disabled pension, the figures were 18 and 7. Besides, six ration cards were distributed by the supply department.
On this occasion, Disha Self Help Group , Ramnagar Kandoli , Jagriti SHG and Nehrugram set up their stalls through which they promoted the products prepared by their groups. Traditional Uttarakhand food were served at the camp by the Jagriti SHG.
The slum dwellers sounded happy with the initiative, saying that it would help them connect themselves with the developmental mainstream. “We were previously unaware of the numerous welfare schemes the government had rolled out for the unprivileged. We hope such camps would continue being held in the slums of the city to enable us avail of the schemes,” one of the dwellers of Sapera Basti said.